THE N W YORKER example, there is the letter of May 5, 1958, which goes like this: Because of your business experience, it seems to me that you may be particu- larly impressed by an anal- ogy suggested to me late- ly by a good friend who heads one of our great corporations. He suggested that the present operations within the Department of Defense are similar to a corporate operation that would permit each impor- tant subordinate to report separately and independ- ently to the Board of Directors, bypassing the Chief Executive entirely. This, of course. would be completely unworkable; it could hardly be tolerated long, because tough com- petition with better organ- ized uni ts would soon ploduce a profit and loss statement that could spell disaster. As of today. the Defense Department must operate under a system, or lack of svstem. similar to one that, as I say, would not be tolerated by a successful business corporation. . . . Would the revelation of the recipient's identity in any way increase the general public's feelings about that letter? I came to the conclusion that the answer to that question is "No." And I have also come to the conclusion that B. ]. was right, as usual, when he suggested, in effect, that his private letters would have to stand or fal1 by what was in them-by the manner in which he expressed his reactions to the problems with which he was confronte:d and the happy solutions he was able to evolve jn connection with those problems I have been testing B. ] .'s letters in the light of this new approach to them and I find that even the most intimate and reveal- ing ones can pass the test. For example, on March 3, 1959, B ]. appears to have learned that one of his close friends had broken a golf çlub. He called in his secretary, Miss Eberhard, and dictated a draft of a letter to that friend, but, ful- ly aware of the intense interest his friend would take in a letter from the chief executive of the B. ]. Roberts Hand Tool Corporation, he didn't simply dic- tate that letter and let it go at that He had it typed in triple space, took it home, and worked on it until a late hour. All anyone needs to do is to read that letter and ask himself whether it makes any o -- """"'- "'""'-- 39 - --- -&'f- ((Internal Revenue Service? This is Malcolm T. Mason speaking. 1 just won two hundred thousand dollars in a j'tngle contest. What do 1 do now?)) - Ml---j I . . difference what the name of B. ] .'s frIend happens to be. The letter is as follows: Don't throwaway that broken driver. You can use it to make a novel desk set. The golf-club head, which can be a driver, brassie, or spoon, provides the penholder of the set, while two golf-club tees form a letter rack. A groove in the base is for a pencil. First, saw off the broken shaft at the head and smooth the cut with a fine file; then bore a hole into the shank. This hole should be drilled deep enough to pre- vent the pen point from touching the bot- tom. A generous application of shellac to the hole will keep the wood from absorbing ink If the club head is scarred badly, re- move the old finish, fill any nicks with plas- tic wood, and rescore the original groov- ing in the face of the head. Then stain the whole thing, except the face, and apply two coats of shellac or clear lacquer. Attach the head to a 0-in. walnut or mahogany base, using two flathead screws, driven from the underside. The tees are forced into undersize holes, and the bottom of the completed set is covered with a piece of fel t. T'hanks to the editors of Lzf e, I am going ahead with my project of collect- ing and publishing the private letters of the chief executive: of the B. J. Roberts Hand Tool Corporation, and have ev- ery hope of completing the project be- fore the conclusion of the present fiscal year, or at any rate concurrently with the initial months of the following fiscal year. -ST. CLAIR McKELWAY . THE. HARSH COUNTRY T'here was a hardness of stone, An uncertain glory, Ghtter of basalt and mIca, And the sheen of ravens. Between cliffs of light We strayed like children, Not feeling the coarse shale That cut like razors, For a blond hill beckoned Like an enormous beacon Shifting in sea change, Not ever farther. "{ et for this we travelled \\Tith hope, and not alone, In the country of ourselves, In a country of bright stone -THEODORE ROETHKE